People v. Dunlap

Dec 22, 2005
Versions:24 A.D.3d 1318
805 N.Y.S.2d 869

It is hereby ordered that the judgment so appealed from be and the same hereby is unanimously affirmed.

Memorandum: On appeal from a judgment convicting him, upon his plea of guilty, of two counts of grand larceny in the second degree (Penal Law § 155.40 [1]), defendant contends that County Court erred in imposing a greater sentence than that agreed to at the time of the plea. We reject that contention. “[E]ven where a plea agreement has been reached, and a defendant has entered a plea in reliance on the agreement, it is ultimately up to the court to impose what it considers an appropriate sentence . . . . As a matter of law and strong public policy, a sentencing promise made in conjunction with a plea is conditioned upon ‘its being lawful and appropriate in light of the subsequent presentence report or information obtained from other reliable sources‘” (People v Hicks, 98 NY2d 185, 188 [2002]). Here, the court received information warranting enhancement of the negotiated sentence to a term that is nevertheless below the maximum allowed, and the court properly afforded defendant the opportunity to withdraw his plea before the court imposed the enhanced sentence (see e.g. People v Coble, 17 AD3d 1165, 1166 [2005], lv denied 5 NY3d 787 [2005]; People v Missrie, 13 AD3d 256, 257 [2004], lv denied 4 NY3d 833 [2005]; People v Langworthy, 1 AD3d 1013 [2003], lv denied 2 NY3d 763 [2004]). Contrary to the contention of defendant, he is not entitled to specific performance of the plea agreement. The remedy of specific performance in the context of plea agreements applies where a defendant has been placed in a “no-return position” in reliance on the plea agreement (People v McConnell, 49 NY2d 340, 345 [1980]), such that specific performance is warranted “as a matter of essential fairness” (id. at 349; see generally People v Curdgel, 83 NY2d 862, 864 [1994]; People v Rubendall, 4 AD3d 13, 19 [2004]). Upon our review of the record, we conclude that specific performance of the plea agreement is not warranted herein.

Present—Pigott, Jr., P.J., Hurlbutt, Scudder, Smith and Lawton, JJ.